Tag: United States

Sunday afternoon

If it weren’t for the rain, I wouldn’t have remembered the incident.

Being just a kid, I was home-bound by torrential rain. No matter how hard I tried, the adults in the house would not let me go out and play. My tantrum perhaps lasted for hours with ending compromise: I got taken to see “the Hunchback of Notre Dame” played by Anthony Quinn.

Esmeralda and her plot-twisting escape.

I wish my life had been that of the hunchback i.e. just ring the bell when it’s time and stay in.

Even on rainy Sunday Afternoons.

No Esmeralda. No trouble. But troubles seem to find me out.

I ran out to the street, saw all sorts of things: burning monk in 1963, Tet 68 street battle, 1975 last chopper, 1979 Three Mile Island. A long way from a quiet home-bound Sunday Afternoon.

On one of the family’ trips, I was up in a Dalat villa, sneaking out the balcony for a smoke, cause I saw it on Bonjour Tristesse. I knew then as I know now the face of existential loneliness.

Jean Paul Belmondo, Johnny Holiday and Alain Delon.

Those larger-than-life figures of French cinema.

Than music of the 60’s arrived (the British Invasion caught a ride on the chopper to be in Saigon as well). I had imprints of “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother” piling on top of “Et Pourtant” by Charles Aznavour.

Those Sunday Afternoons. Home-bound. Taking it all in.

By the time I got to the States, I am a mix bag and a mix  package: French, Vietnamese and English all-in-one.

Then I caught on with Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park“, or America’s “Lonely People”.

Finally, the day the music dies. Lennon got shot in the park.

Princess Diana got car crashed (You live your life like a candle in the wind).

Maria Carey went on living “without you” since she “can’t give anymore”.

Later on, more tragedies piling on top of one another, with “tears in heaven” and “wake me when September ends”.

I like Torn. The sound is very contemporary and cool.

We are still eager for that next tune. Next hit.

After all, it’s only a Sunday Afternoon, homebound. In search of something to pass the time.

Kid at heart.

Look not for trouble. But troubles always manage to seek me out. Bonjour Tristesse.

Might as well getting used to the unusual. Whose life is “normal” anyway. It would be boring to tears, ringing the bell when it’s time. Not sure the guy was born that hunch a back, or it’s an occupational hazard.

Wake me when October ends

Limits to power. Limits to growth. Speed limits.

We finally see ourselves in the mirror.

Dying, decaying, decomposing.

Long live Blue Jeans, T-shirt and Rock “n” Roll.

60 Minutes capitalized on their archive footage to show us the evolution of John Kerry.

Our evolution, from idealism to realism.

The aging process that takes a toll on a powerful nation.

Shrinking. Going private (BlackBerry, Dell) , going home fishing (Steve Ballmer) or going home (Jobs).

Wake me when October ends or when the government is back to work again (as of this, it is facing another shut-down).

My friend is worried about his pension.

I told him to get out and vote.

A country is strong when its young people feel like they can make a difference, or can affect change.

The options are now limited: voters drive, enlistment (not a good idea given Syria and the rise of soft powers), volunteer for  NGO‘s or work in the mill (Amazon is now hiring seasonal workers only).

When NGO”s are on the rise, more than private sector, we have a problem.

Instead of churning out paper money, the nation is better off with “greed is good” days on Wall Street.

At least,  people have reasons to get up in the morning and read the WSJ.

Now, it’s “wake me up when October ends”.

What motivates people are still the same (Maslow scale).

But the mechanism to bring it about seems to be broken: it’s one thing for young people to give up a Wall Street job for Peace Corps, it’s another not to have a job at all, hence, compassion fatigue.

Back in the days of Peace Corps, a generation vowed to “Ask Not…”.

Now, they stop asking, eye glued to the screen, playing war games.

Drone nation.

Everything is available in small sizes (USB, blue tooth etc…).

Digitized. Think in code.

Machine (Google Search) is learning semantics and contextual relations while human refuses to seek understanding (Iran, Iraq, what’s the difference?).

Wake me when October ends.

Let the brain sort it out while we sleep our way through October.

May it wake up fully recharged, reactivated for full-use.

Einstein only used up a tiny portion of his brain cells. Look where it has taken him and us. Imagine when all of us wake up by month end, start thinking in semantics and contextual relevance. A thinking nation is a dangerous one. Sleep tight!

Softer side of Soft Power

In the end of A Christmas Holiday, our Somerset Maugham‘s character went back to his middle-class comfort zone but quite aware of his “plastic” existence. This was right after he had spent a week in Paris, meeting Lydia, a Russian gypsy whose suffering life was nothing Charlie had ever imagined.

I couldn’t help think of a parallel to what America was going through: having involved with a suffering Europe and came home with a G.I Bill, went through a life-altering experience and education. Then we got a Kerry who once testified before Congress as an anti-war camouflage-wearing activist (John Lennon-like) , just to find himself decades later on the other side of the mike.

Softer side of Soft Power.

War-weary country, post-industrial America no longer wants to play global cop, regardless of the nature of mass weapon violation.

We truly are entering the Post-American era whose first phase leaves a huge void to be filled by a host of BRIC countries.

(NATO now stands for No Action, Talk Only).

In short, when the world calls 911, there is no answer.

Only a recording that says “we are short of resources and too compassion-fatigued to be involved, please call back at another time. Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused”.

And that recording might be generated from a pre-recorded upload from India.

Syria or India, to an average American in this post-Recession era, is the same.

Kids need shoes, need to be dropped off and picked up. Groceries in the freezer and fast food at the second drive-through window.

That’s about it.

Please don’t bother us Please do not show us any photo of mass massacre, or influx of refugees to Lebanon and Turkey.

We might enjoy a vacation or a movie set in Istanbul (Taken 2), but we prefer marginal exposure, not deep engagement.

Yet, there has been a significant rise in NGO’s treasure chest during this Recession.

Where is our sense of priority?

Back from our Christmas Holiday, to same old La-Z-Boy chair , feeling life returns to normalcy.

We might have met a few real-life characters whose suffering we could only imagine. But then, it’s better to let sleeping dog lie.

Even Soft Power has its limits (we no longer talk about Hard Power). State is leading Pentagon, but then Russia is now in center stage. Where are Britain, Germany and France?

The so-called Lords of Finance?

In a Post-American World, the power vacuum is up for grabs But no one is big enough and “naive” enough to step up to the plate.

Perhaps there will be a new “NATO”, one that acts only, and no talk at all.

Our Somerset Maugham’s character did give Lydia some money. He felt good about giving. He had a wonderful Christmas Holiday in Paris, the Louvre and the London’s status-quo existence. Will life ever be the same after each human encounter?

The answer lies in whether there is a softer side of Soft Power. I believe American at heart are people with a softer side.

It is finding its footing and balance after a period of growing pain. Mr Kerry wasn’t shunned by first turning into an anti-war, then a pro-war and finally the Geneva deal. Maybe someone will pick up the 911 call after all. It’s called a change of heart. That call can be routed anywhere in the world, It’s called follow-the- sun technology and follow-your-heart ecology.

To beat a dead horse

Even to this day, people still using the Vietnam War as a figure of speech: “Syria will be another US‘ Vietnam” etc…

It was meant to be the new Boogeyman. To scare off the children. To conjure bad imagery and bring back nightmares.

In Rambo, Stallone’s rare line was “where they call Hell, I call Home”.

Occasionally, we read about the Powell Doctrine (purportedly derived from Vietnam War) i.e. if engaged at all, finish it quickly.

Not to beat a dead horse, Vietnam War has been like the Wave, in a football stadium. After a while, it dies down. Don’t try to start one yourself, without feeling silly. It’s like the Bee Gees “I started a joke”.

The irony is, both Kerry and Hagel were by-products of US involvement in Vietnam (not to mention McCain).

A generation comes of age in “Hell”. Trial by fire, baptized by fire.

Hot war on cool medium. America first Television War (pre-CNN era).

Now we got Al Jazeera, whose host died yesterday (David Frost – so, tell me, Mr Nixon, when a president does something, it’s not illegal?). It’s like the Vietnam War got covered by South East Asian News Network. “Unbias” and In-depth coverage.

After all, it’s their region and they know the conflicts as the back of their hands.

With that kind of money buying out Current TV, A J Network is poised for the new theater of war.

The gods of vengeance has moved from Europe to Asia, and now onto the Middle East. I don’t smell the smell of jasmine.

Nor do I smell napalm. This time, you can’t see nor can you smell anything.. Just drone and precision striking.

Powell doctrine + powerful broadband. Yet they still use Vietnam as a figure of speech. For fear of being dragged in.

For fear of war fatigue. I hear the other side saying “So what you’re gonna do about it” ( I used chemical weapon, so what?).

Go ahead, and call 911. It will be another Vietnam for you e.g. quagmire, divided nation, deficit, and post-traumatic disorder.

Where they call “Hell” you shouldn’t call “Home”. But then, can you sit still when your neighbors keep beating the kids, not with stick, but by spraying deadly poison. Wouldn’t you call 911 and to Hell with it. Another Vietnam? So what! Let it be.

War’s reluctant start

It’s true a century ago with the assassination of an Austrian baron. It’s true half a century ago with one ( or two) incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin. It’s true this very Labor weekend, even when we all saw photos of little bodies – dead by chemically induced weapon.

Labor Day traditionally meant as a break for the working class (well, somehow it got co-opted by Congressmen and women as well). Sort of poorman’s vacation e.g. kids back to school, mom back to PT work etc…

Who would want to go shoot down somebody. Not a convenient time. Not in everyone’s mind, nor purview.

It might sell some weapons to take down “creative destruction” weaponry. But in this post-Recession era, it is a reluctant call.

There is no rationality to how war started and takes on a life of its own. I have no prejudice against the Syrian people per se.

After all, Steve Jobs, with Syrian DNA, gave us Apple and the I-phone.

It is more convenient if it were the Chinese, whose money we owe, who crossed the red line

War has always been inconvenient. It destroys at many layers and its effects unending (a century ago, it got the US addicted to war as gold treasure ballooned up , hence, war as economic solution – half a century ago, now, the lingering effect of Agent Orange).

So, why bother?

Acts of aggression take place everyday, everywhere.

Some made the news. Many and most don’t.

But I happened to see the photos (just like I did witness the burning monk, the last chopper and Three-Mile-Island up close).

When you are engaged, you are responsible.

This one matters to me.

Some future misuse of chemical weapons will mater to you and your loved ones.

It’s not enough to turn sword into ploughshares.

Or write a letter or a blog.

There are more effective ways to get your point across.

It’s our century’s dilemma: data rich, but determination poor.

We have become of species of special access (broadband for everyone), but not of anger.

We don’t feel. But then, we will regret (for things we did not do).

President Clinton once made a stop in Ireland to seek consultation from a just-dead poet, before facing E European troubles.

This time, Mr Obama might want to seek consultation from Congress-on-vacation (back in ten) and history book.

All Presidents must face crisis and call to war.

It always has a built-in ambivalence and unintended consequences.

Leaders face fear and challenges but go ahead with gut calls.

Or else, we are all managers, tweaking and cooking the books.

Yes. It’s regional and sectarian. It’s even civil war.

But by zooming out, we realize that chemical weapon violation marks a bookend to humanity.

From here on out, either we say No to “chemical addiction” or we end up using it ourselves.

An assassination there, a regional sea brush here. All seemingly regional and reluctant.

But it’s necessary. To stand (not a cowboy stance, in ready gun-draw posture ) and put down our ploughshares to take up the sword.

Chemistry: blessing and curse

Bodies of little ones lined up on the floor (Syria).

Little orphans waiting to be fed and sustained (Vietnam – Agent Orange victims) decades after the War was over.

Nagasaki and Hiroshima, if we can still recall those localities.

Wrong use of chemistry. Shadow effects.

Masquerading rhetoric.

Just as the Dow finally hit its height.

Who would want to rock the boat.

It only takes good men standing by and doing nothing.

Then before long, little bodies lining the street of America and Europe.

A likely scenario.

Not too far-fetched. Or maybe in N Korea, Iran and once thought, was in Iraq.

This time, we want to get it right. To give it a proper and concerted response.

Chemistry belongs in the lab, to make Oreo cookies and not cooked-up weapon of mass destruction.

Conscience doesn’t just belong to men of past era (WW II).

Conscience belongs to us, in the here and now.

In an era of “flat world”, we are privileged to the information just a tweet away.

But it seems to take longer (certainly long enough for perpetrators to destroy critical evidence) for us to formulate strategic responses.

We choose leaders not just to read from the teleprompter. We choose them to represent our interests and conscience.

The collective will and common goods.

It’s that time for leaders to lead, and for history to judge.

If it can take place over there, unpunished, then it can and will take place over here. Just a matter of time. The same time it takes for a few good men to stand by and do nothing. Churchill is rolling over his grave. So are many great souls of the past.

Below-the-belt offenses don’t deserve civilized response. Through the rhetoric, I see men in fear and not courage.

BTW, courage is calculated against-the-odd kind of response in face of danger, not in the absence of it.

Dilemma called Life

30+ Chinese women start protesting the label of “unwanted” goods.

Tunisian Topless Jihad set a World Religion on fire.

Men teetering on retirement seeking work and love in the wrong place.

A friend in search of affordable physical therapy and health care coverage.

Dilemma called Life.

If it’s easy and smooth, it wouldn’t be called Life.

Life is difficult.

Just as we thought we got it well handled, it slips out of our control.

A Russian astronaut ended up traveling outside of Earth orbit, to never return to Mother Russia.

A death uninvited and unforeseen.

This morning, I saw people rushing to get their turn at  a public hospital. They did not look like they were in need of examination at all.

I have lived and learned as much as I could about life itself.

My findings and takeaways are:

– you can’t win all

– you should choose your battle, but often times, it chooses you

– while you are thinking about life, life goes on regardless of your opinion

– we flow in the fourth dimension (Time), while everyone thinks travel from place to place (3 dimensional world) is big deal

– we can learn in an instant what takes years to grasp

– people who like us will always like us. People who don’t, won’t no matter what we do to try to “earn” their trust and like

– it all boils down to passages or phases (growth, discovery, regret, decline)

– love yourself.

I have put down almost 1,000 blogs. And I think by now, I begin to see a pattern: there is stuff hidden from view. And unless we force it to come out, it will play hide and seek, influence our sentiment and decision.

Rely not on externalities and seek not approval.

Try to understand rather be understood.

I begin to see, to feel, and hopefully understand.

Why women over 30 have to fight multiple battles in China and Vietnam.

Why Tunisian young girl wants to take off her clothes and in doing so gets herself a death warrant (Rushdie of the 21st century).

And why Life itself can only be understood viewing backward.

If only had I been told that Life itself is a dilemma, not a direct line.

We can handle the truth

We here are people who fled Vietnam in various waves (pre-1975, 1975, and post-1975) and have settled in Little Saigon, Orange County, CA.

I have seen the strip transformed, from a few stores to be what it is today: patch work of mini plazas interlacing with mobile home parks, often times, reflections of the boom and bust times.

First was a State Farm rep office, with a pharmacy. Then a Mall. Then all that followed e.g. foot massage parlors (Chinese money) condo complex and French bakeries. Businesses traditionally catered to mainstream tastes e.g. 7/11, Burger King, Ralphs supermarkets were all closed. In their places are Pho (at a discount, like cigarettes), iced coffee, tea (Tastea) and trade-up Vietnamese restaurants.

It was conceived to be a hub for second migration (the first was engineered by the US Government, to prevent Little Havana type of cluster).

Little do we know (the same blind spot that the US Army underestimated the strength of the collective enemy), climate and community acted as push and pull forces for second migration.

We still can’t handle the truth (that policy makers don’t see beyond the immediate).

Now market forces are taking over after the housing boom and burst. High-margin businesses survive side by side with some flavors of urban America: the Vietnamese homeless (stateless to begin with).

On the other hand, we got talk show hosts, weekly pundits and Vietnamese Film Festival featuring up to 69 entries.

We can handle the truth. (I attended a showing last night at UC Irvine. The producer personifies self-reinvention: Silicon Valley engineer, Loan Officer, and now ethnic film producer that might eventually go main stream).

There is a torch-passing process although one cannot see the definite hand-off. The legacy and language, the tug of war between the generations and the acculturation rate (new comers would use Little Saigon as jump point, the same way ChinaTown has served this role for centuries).

Money doesn’t flow one way. It has started to flow the other way (up to 3.5 million Vietnamese tourists from Vietnam are now allowed to travel Westward, a one-to-one match up (and catching up) with those who have resettled.

More monks, more students and concerned parents visiting US campuses, more business and marriage brokerage eager to close deals.

By the end of this month, those who first came in their 30’s will have reached their 70’s. I walked by the Senior citizen center, once bustling with activities e.g. chess match, English classes, Tai chi. Now, the membership are dwindling, funds dried out.

We can still handle the truth.

If I were community planner, I would pay attention to the unmet needs of the touchscreen generation. How do we yank them away from the I-pad screens? What lesson in Vietnamese language and culture would attract them, and what value could we offer?

Meanwhile, tourism to America has reached its low point. Can Little Saigon be a small magnet on the way to Las Vegas and Disney Land.

What other business proposition we can offer to attract reverse money flow? How do we keep those brain power who are now educated on tourist/student visa? I guess it all boils down to quality of life. California has been hard at work to push for air quality.

Now the same zeal is needed to support and upgrade its ethnic base. After all, it’s the end of the West before Hawaii. And it needs to live up to that reputation, once known as California Dreaming. I am sure the Vietnamese homeless guys are doing just that in front of the Food To Go.

We can handle the truth., Mr Stockman.

http://thechairmansblog.gallup.com/2013/04/americans-cant-handle-truth.html

Self-appreciation

Bachelor Party. Spring Break. Girls’ Night Out. Spousal date…and the list goes on.

One of the things foreigners found fascinating about America is its sense of enjoyment (and sometimes entitlement). We’re gonna party, Winter Spring Summer or Fall.

Time for yourself.

Look at yourself in the mirror, just to acknowledge the reflection that is there.

Say, “I appreciate you” for…..(fill-in the blank)

Staying the course when others convince you to lower your self-expectations.

Listening to the inner voice and longing to connect, which only you know intimately.

That reservoir needs to be refilled. Take a Sabbatical break.

When one appreciates oneself, one can then appreciate others.

Self-denial can only go so far. Self-appreciation, on the other hand, is like daily vitamins.

After all, out of the many people you have met, who else knows you better than yourself:

the dark night of the soul, the bliss that comes unexpectedly (but not enough, especially when you were raised in a self-denial culture).

Appreciation is a offspring of gratitude.

You are thankful for being nurtured by the larger human family e.g. those unsung heroes who tilt the land and whose products end up at WholeFoods or Fastfoods; those scientists whose work were adopted by main stream, but remain unacknowledged (in the name of National Securities) e.g. 3-D printing, un-maned aircrafts, gene sequencing.

The story of our century is not about technology, but about technology bunched up into critical mass that help advance mankind:  crowdfunding here, a micro-loan there, gifts for the poor and gifts to loved ones.

All made possible via the internet and creative apps (Kickstarter helps fund movie scripts).

Individuals are empowered to voice and to give. That sense of helplessness is taken out of the equation. No more lacking in ways, just in will.

Back to the drawing board. Back to self-appreciation. Give yourself some slacks. Only then, can we be of use to others. Man exists to rise above mere survival instincts. To appreciate one’s self and others.  That connection has to start somewhere, really close to home.

I am sure you can list top of your head a dozen positive things about yourself.

Then go out to build on top of that, as a token of appreciation to your very best self.

Turning Tragedy into Triumph

It’s on the Post. It’s on Linkedin. It’s in your face.

It’s about tourism to America. Or the decline of.

You would think people love to flock to the big Apple, to Disneyland and to Las Vegas.

But lately, it doesn’t happen (tourists prefer destinations like Turkey over the USA).

To top that, we got bad news like “they closed the White House tour”, ” the Monument is in repair” etc..

Tell that to those who are planning their family vacation to attend this year’s Cherry-Blossom Parade.

In Marketing, we seek to create a conducive atmosphere (to induce spending), like the Experience Economy which Las Vegas has mastered.

Wouldn’t it be counter-intuitive to finish rebuilding the Twin Towers at quicker pace, and use that as a draw.

Look, we were knocked down, but not out.

Come and see the resilience, the sacred history, and the undefeated spirit of a freedom-loving people (Discover American).

It would create high-paying jobs (using future tourist revenue), and not just for NYC.

Tourists would likely end up touring both East and West Coast.

Think like a tourist. What would you be looking to do and see? (the Dakotas?)

What differentiates the US  from the UK and other EU countries?

Teach a short course in English, with terms like Filibuster, Sequester etc…

I would stay away from visiting a house in disarray and disagreement which induces more stress than spending.

Corona did a good job showing pristine beach front, under the shade of umbrella and 2 beers in the foreground.

Now, that’s vacation away from stress and strain.

They can do that with two bottles, how much more can we do with two buildings, rising from the ashes.

Turn Tragedy into Triumph. Build and they will come.

They always will. Just need to be nudged.  Call out Hollywood, line up the stars (our new ambassadors).

I remember that one time, when Quincy Jones called everybody to leave their egos outside the door. Outside, they might be stars in their own rights. Inside the studio, We are the World. And they ate it up. The synergy and energy of first-class vocals, in harmony and collaboration. Build it and they will come. From very afar, to rediscover America and American, people who can turn tragedy into triumph.